DARFUR
Since 2003, the crisis in Darfur has taken over 400,000 lives and seen over 2.3 million people forced from their homes. Though the international community has been aware of this crisis for several years, the situation in Darfur continues to deteriorate. An increase in violence, combined with governmental inaction and lack of funding, has critically endangered humanitarian life-support systems. Through repeated trips to the region, several of our board members have witnessed this carnage and catastrophe. Not On Our Watch has adopted the crisis in Darfur as its inaugural campaign.
For more information on the conflict in Darfur, click here.
For strategy papers and updates, click here.
For a short video on Darfur, click here.
BURMA
Burma (also known as Myanmar) is governed by one of the most brutal military regimes in the world, led by General Than Shwe. Since 1990, fair elections have not been held. Democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest, where she has been held for 12 of the last 18 years. Under Than Shwe, the regime continues to perpetrate gross human rights violations against Burmese citizens. It is estimated that the military has destroyed over 3200 tribal villages, violently suppressing opposition forces through torture, rape and execution. In the wake of Cyclone Nargis, Than Shwe repeatedly prevented foreign aid and emergency supplies from coming into the country, a stance that sharply increased death and disease in those regions hardest hit.
For more background on Burma, please click here:
http://www.hrw.org/doc?t=asia&c=burma
